Grow Local Colorado is a group of volunteers dedicated to promoting local food, local community, and local economy.
Educational Potluck #14
HEMP & the rEvolutionary Growth of a New Industry
March 14th, 6:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: The Garden at 3435 Albion St., Denver.
Jason Lauve with Team Hemp will talk about industrial hemp (no, not marijuana). Its coming to the U.S. is like the telephone, car & internet all being invented at the same time. Literally thousands of products (food, clothing, building materials, cosmetics, auto & aerospace parts, plastics, rope, paper, oil, fuel, etc.) can be made from hemp. George Washington pushed for the growth of hemp, which he grew himself, as did Thomas Jefferson. The 1st drafts of the Declaration of Independence & the Constitution were written on hemp paper. It has the potential to be a very worthwhile cash crop that can be grown without pesticides & can contribute to sustainable farming. It can bring back farming as a growth industry & due to being the feed stock for thousands of products, can be a huge job creator. Come & hear why this is leading to exciting times for many who have been passionate about its potential for many years. These potlucks are cost & waste free, so please bring your own plate, utensils, cup, etc. Please bring food to share. Let's come together & share the high of a needed paradigm shift & simply be with one another at the table breaking bread.
P.S. Waste Farmers is the primary sponsor of these events & we will return to their site soon.
March 14th, 6:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: The Garden at 3435 Albion St., Denver.
Jason Lauve with Team Hemp will talk about industrial hemp (no, not marijuana). Its coming to the U.S. is like the telephone, car & internet all being invented at the same time. Literally thousands of products (food, clothing, building materials, cosmetics, auto & aerospace parts, plastics, rope, paper, oil, fuel, etc.) can be made from hemp. George Washington pushed for the growth of hemp, which he grew himself, as did Thomas Jefferson. The 1st drafts of the Declaration of Independence & the Constitution were written on hemp paper. It has the potential to be a very worthwhile cash crop that can be grown without pesticides & can contribute to sustainable farming. It can bring back farming as a growth industry & due to being the feed stock for thousands of products, can be a huge job creator. Come & hear why this is leading to exciting times for many who have been passionate about its potential for many years. These potlucks are cost & waste free, so please bring your own plate, utensils, cup, etc. Please bring food to share. Let's come together & share the high of a needed paradigm shift & simply be with one another at the table breaking bread.
P.S. Waste Farmers is the primary sponsor of these events & we will return to their site soon.
Season Six and Growing
This spring marks Grow Local Colorado's sixth year of growing. We wouldn't be where we are if not for the generosity and help of so many organizations, individuals and businesses in our community. Denver Parks and Recreation had faith in Grow Local six years ago when they allowed us to plant our first vegetable garden in their most popular flower beds in Civic Center Park. This year Denver Parks is providing us with flower beds in three parks. This is the fourth year we'll have vegetables growing at the Governor's Mansion and each year they have provided us with additional beds meaning more food for Metro CareRing. Welby Gardens has supported Grow Local for five years by donating numerous flats of large, healthy vegetable seedlings. Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado rounds up enough volunteers to help us plant 8,000 seedlings in 14 gardens in ten days; a feat we couldn't accomplish without them. Chipotle makes sure our volunteers had healthy food after an evening of non-stop planting.
But planting is just the beginning of a garden's life. In order for those seedlings to grow and be productive they need to be weeded and harvested weekly. We are partnering with ten organizations to grow fresh produce for those in need in fourteen gardens. Some of these groups have been with Grow Local from the start and others are just joining us this year. Together our goal this year is to grow 5,000 pounds of locally grown produce for communities in need.
Civic Center Park: Returned Peace Corp Volunteers
Community Ministry: Christ the King Lutheran Church in southwest Denver
Governor's Mansion: St John's Episcopal Church garden volunteers
Harvard Gulch: CSU Master Gardeners
Haven: residents of the Haven and CSU Master Gardeners
HOPE: HOPE's clients
Huston Lake Neighborhood: Crossroads of the Rockies teen campers
Observatory Park: University Park Community Council
Urban Peak: the Table and Urban Peak teens
Rowan Gardens: residents
Rocky Mountain Youth Housing: residents and Spring Tiger Farms
Thank you, community partners! Your help, support and generosity are greatly appreciated.
But planting is just the beginning of a garden's life. In order for those seedlings to grow and be productive they need to be weeded and harvested weekly. We are partnering with ten organizations to grow fresh produce for those in need in fourteen gardens. Some of these groups have been with Grow Local from the start and others are just joining us this year. Together our goal this year is to grow 5,000 pounds of locally grown produce for communities in need.
Civic Center Park: Returned Peace Corp Volunteers
Community Ministry: Christ the King Lutheran Church in southwest Denver
Governor's Mansion: St John's Episcopal Church garden volunteers
Harvard Gulch: CSU Master Gardeners
Haven: residents of the Haven and CSU Master Gardeners
HOPE: HOPE's clients
Huston Lake Neighborhood: Crossroads of the Rockies teen campers
Observatory Park: University Park Community Council
Urban Peak: the Table and Urban Peak teens
Rowan Gardens: residents
Rocky Mountain Youth Housing: residents and Spring Tiger Farms
Thank you, community partners! Your help, support and generosity are greatly appreciated.
Join our NEW Google Group
Grow Local Colorado is no longer sending out email newsletters.
We now have a listserv which will serve as a "Virtual Town Hall" so we can share information with each other!
Come join the fun!
Click the envelope above to send an eMail to join our NEW Google Group
or send an eMail to:
growlocalcolorado+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Questions?
Email: Dana@GrowLocalColorado.org
We now have a listserv which will serve as a "Virtual Town Hall" so we can share information with each other!
Come join the fun!
Click the envelope above to send an eMail to join our NEW Google Group
or send an eMail to:
growlocalcolorado+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Questions?
Email: Dana@GrowLocalColorado.org
Harvest from Governor's Mansion
by St John's Episcopal Church volunteers
by St John's Episcopal Church volunteers
PRODUCE FOR PANTRIES
ADDRESSES INCREASING HUNGER
IN DENVER METRO AREA
Organizations Come Together to Increase Availability of Garden Grown Produce in Local Food Pantries
In response to the growing number of people visiting Denver area food pantries and to increase access to healthy and fresh produce for all, area organizations have come together to create Produce for Pantries. A project of Cooking Matters, Grow Local Colorado, Denver Urban Gardens, Slow Food Denver, Plant a Row for The Hungry, Livewell Colorado, Food Bank of the Rockies, Metro CareRing, Yardharvest, and St. John's Cathedral, Produce for Pantries connects food pantries with school gardens, community gardens, and home gardens in their neighborhoods to provide locally grown and healthy food and nutrition education to those in need. Through Yardharvest, food pantries will also be connected with fruit gleaned from residents' trees who have an excess they would like to donate.
A total of twenty-three Denver area pantries are involved as pilot sites for 2012. Those pantries are being connected with school gardens via Slow Food Denver, community gardens via Denver Urban Gardens, and home gardens via a media campaign. As well as receiving fresh produce, food pantries will be provided with easy, nutritious bilingual recipes to accompany the produce, information on safe food handling and storage for the fresh produce, as well as on-site cooking classes.
"In the world's wealthiest nation no child should go hungry, but one in five children in America struggles with hunger" says Cooking Matters' Megan Bradley, "and Produce for Pantries recognizes that one of the main hurdles to healthy eating can be access to local nutritious foods. You can't get more local than food grown in the neighborhood of food pantries."
Produce for Pantries "connects the dots" by bringing together youth growing produce in school gardens, residents growing in community gardens, and citizens growing vegetables in home gardens to help nourish their neighbors in need, thereby strengthening and enriching Denver's diverse neighborhoods. Residents are encouraged to email produceforpantries@gmail.com to connect with their nearest participating food pantry, and to register their fruit trees online at www.yardharvest.org if they would like to donate their excess fruit to nearby food pantries.
In response to the growing number of people visiting Denver area food pantries and to increase access to healthy and fresh produce for all, area organizations have come together to create Produce for Pantries. A project of Cooking Matters, Grow Local Colorado, Denver Urban Gardens, Slow Food Denver, Plant a Row for The Hungry, Livewell Colorado, Food Bank of the Rockies, Metro CareRing, Yardharvest, and St. John's Cathedral, Produce for Pantries connects food pantries with school gardens, community gardens, and home gardens in their neighborhoods to provide locally grown and healthy food and nutrition education to those in need. Through Yardharvest, food pantries will also be connected with fruit gleaned from residents' trees who have an excess they would like to donate.
A total of twenty-three Denver area pantries are involved as pilot sites for 2012. Those pantries are being connected with school gardens via Slow Food Denver, community gardens via Denver Urban Gardens, and home gardens via a media campaign. As well as receiving fresh produce, food pantries will be provided with easy, nutritious bilingual recipes to accompany the produce, information on safe food handling and storage for the fresh produce, as well as on-site cooking classes.
"In the world's wealthiest nation no child should go hungry, but one in five children in America struggles with hunger" says Cooking Matters' Megan Bradley, "and Produce for Pantries recognizes that one of the main hurdles to healthy eating can be access to local nutritious foods. You can't get more local than food grown in the neighborhood of food pantries."
Produce for Pantries "connects the dots" by bringing together youth growing produce in school gardens, residents growing in community gardens, and citizens growing vegetables in home gardens to help nourish their neighbors in need, thereby strengthening and enriching Denver's diverse neighborhoods. Residents are encouraged to email produceforpantries@gmail.com to connect with their nearest participating food pantry, and to register their fruit trees online at www.yardharvest.org if they would like to donate their excess fruit to nearby food pantries.
We wanted to say, "Thank you", to
LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics
for all their generosity
so we descended on their store in Cherry Creek Mall.
LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics
for all their generosity
so we descended on their store in Cherry Creek Mall.
About UsGrow Local Colorado was founded in 2009 by representatives of Transition Denver, Mile High Business Alliance, and Denver Botanic Gardens. Since then community partnerships formed with organizations such as 910Arts, Denver Urban Gardens, Slow Food Denver, Sustainable Food Denver, The GrowHaus, Beanstalk Foundation, Feed Denver, Volunteers of Outdoor Colorado, among many others.
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